Most CFPB Mortgage Complaints from Consumers Who Can’t Pay

Since December 1, 2011, the ""Consumer Financial Protection Bureau"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/ (CFPB) has handled more than 63,700 mortgage complaints, according to a ""report"":http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201303_cfpb_Snapshot-March-2013.pdf from the bureau.

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Most of the mortgage complaints were a result of issues borrowers faced when they were not able to make their mortgage payments. Overall, 61 percent of the mortgage complaints dealt with issues related to loan modifications, collections, or foreclosures.

The second most common mortgage complaint fell into the ""making payments"" category, which covers issues with loan servicing, payments, or escrow accounts.

Issues with an application, originator, or mortgage broker when applying for a loan accounted for 7 percent of the complaints, making it the third most common hurdle for consumers.

The CFPB sent about 89 percent of the mortgage complaints to the related companies so they can review the issue and respond. So far, companies have already responded to about 95 percent of the complaints sent to them.

The bureau also noted another 7 percent of the complaints were referred to other regulatory agencies, while 1 percent of the complaints were found to be incomplete.

When consumers were compensated, the median monetary amount received was $425 for 1,800 mortgage complaints. Of the responses from companies, consumers disputed about 23 percent, or 10,500 mortgage complaint responses.

The data was based on information gathered as of the end of February. The CFPB recently ""announced"":http://www.dsnews.com/articles/cfpb-goes-live-with-expanded-consumer-complaint-database-2013-03-28 the launch of its expanded ""Consumer Complaint Database"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaintdatabase/, which includes updated information on a daily basis.

Consumers can submit a complaint online at ""ConsumerFinance.gov/Complaint"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/Complaint/.